Indiana

Put All Reform Ideas on the Table

Posted on September 08, 2009
The following is a guest blog by City-County Councilor Jose Evans. We know what the problem is: our children are not graduating from high school at acceptable levels. IPS has arguably one of the worst high school graduation rates in the country.  Students are not buying into the system ? we are failing...

Wedding Twitters

Posted on September 07, 2009
My brother captured this moment shortly after the wedding ceremony on Saturday.   We all thought it was priceless and said just about everything that needed to be said.

Mrs. Shabazz and Me

Posted on September 06, 2009

Get Me To The Church On Time

Posted on September 04, 2009
I?ll be taking the next couple days off from posting here on the Indiana Barrister. As many of you know I?m getting married this weekend and the future Mrs. Shabazz would rather have me focus on our upcoming nuptials than the politics of the day. I?ll be back after Labor Day with more commentary and a wife...

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Request and You Shall Receive

Posted on September 02, 2009
I received my copy of IPS’ budget information Tuesday.   I haven’t had a chance to walk through all of it yet, but I wanted to make sure that as soon as I got a copy of it, you received one also.   090827 Budget Adoption Board Items 090817 Variance Analysis 090817 Board Supplmentary Information 090804 Budget Advertisement Board Items 090708 Budget [...

Come Hob Nob

Posted on September 02, 2009
If you get a chance Thursday, come hang out the Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce’s Hob Nob.  It really is the premiere political event in Indiana.   It’s  Thursday from 5-7 p.m. at the Indiana State Museum, 650 Washington.   I haven’t missed one since coming to work here nearly five years ago...

The Big One

Posted on September 02, 2009
I was having some computer issues this morning and couldn’t upload the big IPS budget document. This is the 2010 Budget by line item.   It is 577 pages long. Happy reading. 2010 Adopted Budget Detail by Cost Center

I Love Me Some Libertarians, But?

Posted on September 01, 2009
One day someone asked me what stops me from being a Libertarian, even though I fundamentally agree with them on a lot of issues.   I told them two things, my practical nature and appreciation for the status quo. I can respect the Libertarian ideas of limited government and personal freedom and more individual responsibility, however [...

WellPoint CEO; Public Option Not An Option

Posted on September 01, 2009
WellPoint CEO Angela Braly told the Economic Club of  Indiana today that it was time to reform health care and not just health insurance. Braly said she providing more people with coverage without getting costs under control will only make the system worse...

City Market Watch

Posted on August 31, 2009
As a frequent patron of  downtown Indianapolis there is one place in particular I tend to have little use for, City Market.  I think the set up is annoying and the food isn’t all that great for what you have pay.  For a dollar or so more I can go get some real food with [...

Open Up, IPS!

Posted on August 30, 2009
Although I have my issues with the management of Indianapolis Public Schools, I have been trying to give them the benefit of the doubt this school year.   However that was shot down this morning when I read at  Tuesday’s budget hearing,  board member Kelly Bentley was denied an itemized copy of the District’s 2010 $448 [...

IPS/FOIA Update

Posted on August 30, 2009
I e-mailed Dr. Eugene White this afternoon to let him know tomorrow I was dropping off my Freedom of Information request regarding the budget at the district office. Here is his response. Abdul, I will check with my budget developer and we will let you know how soon we can have the total budget information ready for you...

IP$

Posted on August 29, 2009
I got a tip late Friday afternoon that dozens of IPS teachers and staff were at the main building downtown mad as all get out because they were not getting paid. When I got to the building they were waiting in the hall looking for their pay.   None of them would speak on the record but [...

Polling for Mayors

Posted on August 28, 2009
With Melina Kennedy announcing that she is forming an exploratory committee for Mayor today, IB figured the least it could do was put up a new poll.   We’re asking which Democratic candidate would be the best to run in 2011. We list the six current possible contenders...

MCSD Money Problems

Posted on August 28, 2009
I know all God’s City-County agencies have money problems, but I am seriously wondering what’s going on over at the Marion County Sheriff’s Department these days. At a Pension Board meeting Thursday it was revealed that due to the economy the pension fund for retired deputies is creating a more than $3 million shortfall...

Franklin Township Follies

Posted on August 27, 2009
There’s nothing like taking taxpayer money, using it to sue taxpayers in order to get more of the taxpayers’ money.   And then again there is nothing like the Franklin Township School District. It’s one thing to go to the taxpayers and ask them to give up some of their property tax relief so administrators can [...

U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy, 1932-2009

Posted on August 26, 2009

Get on the Bus

Posted on August 25, 2009
The nice thing about being back from vacation means you get to dive in all the issues that you missed while tanning on the beach with a cocktail and cigar.  Ok, I’m just kidding about the cigar part. But seriously folks, one of the big issues right now involves school districts and theirtransportation programs...

Showdown in Carson City

Posted on August 25, 2009
Normally Rotary Club meetings are pretty routine, but there was an interesting exchange between Indiana 7th District Congressman Andre Carson and local citizen Gerry Mann.   Carson addressed the Rotarians on health care.   Mann wanted to argue some of the stats regarding the uninsured and that led to the following… Carson-Mann Exchange Carson later answered questions for us guys [...

Twofer Tuesday

Posted on August 25, 2009
It appears two local Democratic elected officials are running afoul of the law. First Indianapolis Metropolitan Police are investigating City-County Councilor Doris Minton-McNeil over a possible hit and run incident three days ago.  Police were called Saturday to the 2000 block of Medford because a woman had called 9-1-1 saying McNeil was driving a green Trailblazer and [...

What Did I Miss?

Posted on August 23, 2009
I got back this afternoon from my annual tri-state trip to the land where all the radio and TV stations start with the letter K.   I didn’t get many text messages or phone calls while I was away, so I can assume there were no earth shattering events...

Call Him Crazy

Posted on August 21, 2009
The following is a guest post from Robert Enlow.    Enlow is the President and CEO  of the Friedman Foundation which advocates education reform and school choice. Call me crazy, but I want to know why no one gets upset when the state doles out over $10,000 to Carmel millionaires so that they can send their [...

Talk Amongst Yourselves

Posted on August 20, 2009
Hey guys,  as I’m heading out of town today I figured now would be a good time for us at Indiana Barrister to unveil a new project we’ve been working on. It’s called Indiana Discussion.  It’s a web site where you can talk about local, state and national issues whenever you want...

Casting Call

Posted on August 19, 2009
I’m doing the morning show from the Indiana State Fairgrounds today and then I have some wedding things to work on shortly afterwards.  So if there is a post today, it won’t be until later. In addition, with the wedding coming up, I’m soliciting some guest posts from different members of the community on issues ranging [...

Empty Chairs and Empty Tables

Posted on August 18, 2009
Indianapolis Public Schools are missing a few thousand students. According to my friends over at RTV 6,  IPS was scheduled to have between 33,000 and 34,000 students show up in its classrooms, however as of Friday, there were slightly more than 30,000 students in school...

Monday Morning Buzz

Posted on August 17, 2009
There’s nothing like starting out the week with a good bunch of gossip, rumor and political innuendo.  Most of  it falls on the Democratic side today.  And as always, take it for what it is worth… Marion County Sheriff Frank Anderson apparently has felt the need to justify some recent purchases in these tight budget times...

Plus ca Change, Plus C?est la Meme Chose

Posted on August 15, 2009
The above is French for “the more things change, the more they stay the same.”   That phrase has been on my mind a lot lately as I have monitored the health care reform debate. As an observer of political events, I tend to chuckle somewhat slightly as political roles tend to reverse over time...

In Case You Missed It?

Posted on August 14, 2009
The Mayor made an appearance on C-SPAN yesterday.   He was interviewed as part of a series on the economy’s impact on cities.  My favorite caller was the Democrat from Indianapolis who said the Mayor was doing a good job.

School Daze

Posted on August 13, 2009
As I was looking for something to talk about during the first hour of my morning radio show,  I had a person call in who identified themselves as an IPS school teacher. He told me that during their first general meeting of the semester, Dr. Eugene White berated the teachers and told them the reason [...

At Least It Wasn?t a Panhandler

Posted on August 13, 2009
RTV 6  is reporting this morning about a homeless advocate who was carjacked at 38th and MLK Drive. Andrea DeMink was carjacked at a convience store.   DeMink runs Pourhouse, an agency that helps the homeless. Oh well, at least  the guy wasn’t panhandling.

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